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Affordable laptop recommendations: budget £350-£450

Upgraded a Lenovo 505s for £27. The adding a SSD and more RAM is not exactly a new trick, but it's certainly more affordable. £15 SSD and second hand RAM from ebay. It was my OHs and has been sat gathering dust for years. The market is bonkers at the moment. With out upgrades people are trying to sell them for £150 on ebay at the moment. :eek:
 
Riklet said:
Did you get one or still looking?

Budget?
Click to expand...

I'm looking. Got a lenovo for my daughter to do her homework last March.
12 month warranty. After 13 months the motherboard dies

So looking for a replacement. Storage isn't a priority as she can save in the cloud. But reliability is

My old Asus N56 from 2012 is still going strong!
 
rubbershoes said:
any thoughts on this?

Asus vivobook

or this

another asus

or a chromebook


she needs to write essays and edit documents . we don't have an ofice 365 subscription so I don't know if software the chromebook would be good for that
Click to expand...

You can use the Web version, which is impressive for what it is, but not the same.

Both this Windows machines are very low spec, so will be sluggish as anything to use. In the circumstances I'd probably buy a chromebook for this reason.
 
UnderAnOpenSky said:
I'd be tempted by a Chromebook then. They are so much nicer to use then cheap Windows laptops.
Click to expand...

^^^this^^^

from the 3 you linked to I'd go for Asus C403NA-FQ0034 Intel Celeron N3350 4GB 32GB eMMC 14 Inch Chromebook - Laptops Direct

3 year warranty and a spill resistant keyboard would catch my eye as a parent.
My daughter used my old Chromebook for a year or so to do her Secondary school work - no issues.
Used Word etc online via a school subscription or worked within their VLE. All good.

There are loads of Chromebook models about at around that price point - have a scout round.
John Lewis will automatically give you a 2 yr warranty.

Also check the end of life date here Auto Update policy - Google Chrome Enterprise Help

That model from laptops direct has just over 3 years of updates left.
 
rubbershoes said:
I'm looking. Got a lenovo for my daughter to do her homework last March.
12 month warranty. After 13 months the motherboard dies

So looking for a replacement. Storage isn't a priority as she can save in the cloud. But reliability is

My old Asus N56 from 2012 is still going strong!
Click to expand...
I imagine you'd have a very good case under consumer protection laws to get that repaired for free. But you'd have to fight for it, which is a right pita.

It's a bit late to say so, but always buy the extended warranty on a laptop unless you're the sort who enjoys fighting for repairs. I think the last Lenovo I bought the extension to 3 years was all of £40.
 
Chz said:
I imagine you'd have a very good case under consumer protection laws to get that repaired for free. But you'd have to fight for it, which is a right pita.

It's a bit late to say so, but always buy the extended warranty on a laptop unless you're the sort who enjoys fighting for repairs. I think the last Lenovo I bought the extension to 3 years was all of £40.
Click to expand...

Liked for the warranty comment - same here if it is reasonably priced. It is one of the main reasons I used to use John Lewis for a lot of stuff. 2 yr warranty, sometimes 3, on electricals and they never once baulked at me returning a gadget. I even got a 100% refund after 20 months into a 2yr warranty on a Chromebook they couldn't fix (or it wasn't worth it, whichever).
 
Another cheap player to the market for people looking for a laptop-like device.

Might suit some of you/them/everybody. The same set up with an iPad would be approaching £500
[iPad £329, Smart Keyboard £159 - cheaper folio type keyboards are available but were in my experience all shitty, go to CeX and get one for £20 like I did]


The reviews of the Amazon keyboard should be interesting. £50 if bought alone.



Screenshot (12).png
 
Please bear in mind that this is a gateway drug to get you to buy all manner of other Amazon stuff.

Cheap but pretty good tablet - cheap and hopefully good keyboard folio case thing - and bundled with one year of Office 365 (anywhere between £40and £80 depending on where and when you buy). It has a nag screen that shows you Amazon adverts unless you pay to remove that (a tenner) - plus all the apps are Amazon based. They have their own OS and app store, so it is but really isn't an Android tablet.


We've all had Fire Tablets. Lil'Angel and I unlocked ours to make them able to use the Google Play Store for apps which opened the device up a lot and made them much more useful in my opinion. Like being able to install BorrowBox so I could read library books on my Kindle (Fuck You Bezos!)

YMMV and unlocking this straight away will obviously bork your warranty immediately.
 
Last edited:
Next door neighbour has done the dreaded can you recommend me a new laptop, and as I only moved in, in December and he seems a really nice bloke especially when it comes to doing building type work, I'd like to keep him on side.

As it's bank holiday weekend I thought there might be some deals on.

He said something light, 13" range, and doesn't do a whole lot just browsing and word processing and what not, however said in the £350 price range. I said for a slim light laptop for that price you'll be looking at the budget end of the market, so I have pre-empted that.

Best I can see in Currys is this: LENOVO IdeaPad 3i 14" Laptop - Intel® Core™ i3, 128 GB SSD, Blue although 14" and a bit over budget.

I don't mind wiping it and putting on vanilla Windows so it runs a bit smoother and I can install Office for him using a work key.

Anything better out there urban hive mind? No shitty small 64GB eMMC hard drives please, as I don't want regular visits because Windows Updates won't install :D I can't believe laptops are still being shipped with 4GB of RAM though as standard, seems like it's been like that for years now!
 
I find that 4GB offensive. That 10th gen i3 is no better than the 7th gen i3 I bought the mrs 3 years back, and for a bit under that price it was at least a convertible with a touchscreen.

That said, there is a shortage of parts out there so things are a bit pricier than they could be. I would save £50 and get the Pentium here:

Laptops - Cheap Laptop Deals | Currys

Take advantage of amazing deals on our Laptops range here at Currys. Shop online and get free delivery or order & collect in store.
www.currys.co.uk www.currys.co.uk

Only difference between the Pentium Gold and the i3 is a bit of clock speed. They're both 2core/4thread which is enough for any casual use.
 
Ah, it's a pity the mainstream 14" ones aren't really on "sale" (they're cheaper at Curry's). The big discounts are on the expensive ones and Chromebooks.
 
Chz said:
I find that 4GB offensive. That 10th gen i3 is no better than the 7th gen i3 I bought the mrs 3 years back, and for a bit under that price it was at least a convertible with a touchscreen.

That said, there is a shortage of parts out there so things are a bit pricier than they could be. I would save £50 and get the Pentium here:

Laptops - Cheap Laptop Deals | Currys

Take advantage of amazing deals on our Laptops range here at Currys. Shop online and get free delivery or order & collect in store.
www.currys.co.uk www.currys.co.uk

Only difference between the Pentium Gold and the i3 is a bit of clock speed. They're both 2core/4thread which is enough for any casual use.
Click to expand...

It's pretty shocking how many budget laptops are still sold like this. I dread people asking me with this kind of budget like they have for cybershot.
 
Throbbing Angel said:
Another cheap player to the market for people looking for a laptop-like device.

Might suit some of you/them/everybody. The same set up with an iPad would be approaching £500
[iPad £329, Smart Keyboard £159 - cheaper folio type keyboards are available but were in my experience all shitty, go to CeX and get one for £20 like I did]


The reviews of the Amazon keyboard should be interesting. £50 if bought alone.



View attachment 265261
Click to expand...

Even cheaper now at £209.99
All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription
by Amazon: https://smile.amazon.co.uk/dp/B08XXFT6QZ/ref=cm_sw_em_r_mt_dp_FP6B5X5501PESMJQXKB2
 
Throbbing Angel said:
Even cheaper now at £209.99
All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription
by Amazon: All-new Fire HD 10 tablet, 32 GB, Black, with Ads + Bluetooth keyboard + 12-month Microsoft 365 Personal subscription: Amazon.co.uk: Amazon Devices
Click to expand...

They can be removed but I can now confirm ads on a tablet are a travesty.

Also I'm not sure if I could recommend a Fire Tablet with the Amazon ecosystem to most people, unless they were confident to remove it (which luckily is quite easy)
 
iamwithnail said:
I have a fire tablet and it’s honestly one of the worst bits of kit I have.
Click to expand...
Adjusted for price, I think it's the best bit of kit I have. Though maybe not quite as good as the Tesco Hudl 2 was at the time. But the first part of that sentence is key. Also, the Fire 10" (which is what I have) is quite a lot more powerful than the smaller ones.

Ads are just on the lockscreen, so I don't even see them really.
 
mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.

she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.

my initial reaction to this is :hmm: and i can't help thinking that for similar money, a refurbished proper laptop would be better (i've got a refurbished thinkpad for when i'm away from home), and we could keep the software pretty much matching between the two.

any thoughts from the panel?
 
Puddy_Tat said:
mum-tat is contemplating a lap-top as a second device (she has a full PC, but tends to use something else when she is downstairs, and going up / down stairs a few times a day is getting more difficult) - it's going to be mainly internetting and e-mails, nothing too drastic.

she has seen a couple of things that argos do for about 200 quid - i've looked at them, and they appear to be 'cloudbooks' with this s-mode windoze 10.

my initial reaction to this is :hmm: and i can't help thinking that for similar money, a refurbished proper laptop would be better (i've got a refurbished thinkpad for when i'm away from home), and we could keep the software pretty much matching between the two.

any thoughts from the panel?
Click to expand...
If all she wants is Internet and email, might a tablet not be more the job?
 
existentialist said:
If all she wants is Internet and email, might a tablet not be more the job?
Click to expand...

she has a tablet now and this is a possible replacement for it.

she finds it a bit small to see clearly, and poking at the touch-screen with a prodding stick instead of a proper keyboard is fairly time consuming and tends to result in quite a lot of typos and bad language...

(and i don't really understand tablets so offering tech support when it does something weird is less easy. broadly speaking, i try and keep us both on matching software so it's easier to talk her through something from home)
 
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